


Igniting the Fire

by novocaine_sea



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Character Study, Gen, M/M, Pranks, Suna Centric, squint for SunaOsa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:41:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22774315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novocaine_sea/pseuds/novocaine_sea
Summary: The highlight of Suna’s day was going to volleyball practice.No, not because he liked practice itself. In fact, he pretty much hated it. Running laps around the court, or around the gym outside when the weather permitted, was generally a pain for Suna. He was still pretty indifferent about all of his teammates, having only been a part of the team for around three months.The thing Suna liked most about practice was messing with the first year setter, Miya Atsumu.
Relationships: Suna Rintarou & Inarizaki Volleyball Club
Kudos: 46





	Igniting the Fire

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this about two years ago for the HQ Middle Blocker Zine. I meant to post it for Suna's birthday, but I'm a little late. The stage play Inarizaki cast gave me a lot of feelings today so I figured it was finally time. Enjoy~

The highlight of Suna’s day was going to volleyball practice.

No, not because he liked practice itself. In fact, he pretty much hated it. Running laps around the court, or around the gym outside when the weather permitted, was generally a pain for Suna. He was still pretty indifferent about all of his teammates, having only been a part of the team for around three months. It was a lot of work and energy, but it gave him something to do after school other than be at home, which was nice. He didn’t have much to do at home besides homework, which he didn’t even do half the time. 

The thing Suna liked most about practice was messing with the first year setter, Miya Atsumu. At least… he was pretty sure the setter was Atsumu. He still couldn’t tell the twins apart, but he knew Atsumu was the more obnoxious one. So thus was his target.

Nothing Suna ever did was harmful. It was pointless fun, something for Suna to look forward to whenever he entered the smelly locker room. It was mostly taking Atsumu’s shoelaces out of his sneakers or stealing his deodorant, hiding them in extremely obvious places. Atsumu never suspected him, and if he did then he never let on. But he figured there would be a stop to his fun if Atsumu did notice and Suna didn’t have any plans to stop until he was told to do so. 

That afternoon he got to their locker room before his teammates as he usually did. The captain and vice captain were always delighted that he got there before anybody else, happy that they had a punctual first year on the team. They never seemed to question why Suna still stood in his uniform instead of his practice clothes upon arrival. Suna scanned the room before taking Atsumu’s shorts from his partially open locker and switching them out for the shorts the cheerleaders wore under their skirts. 

How Suna had gotten those was beside the point.

Shoving his hands into his pocket, he whistled a serene tune as he made his way to his own locker, unlocking it just as the main door opened. Voices filtered in and Suna preoccupied himself with unbuttoning his uniform, folding it neatly and placing it at the bottom of the locker.

“Afternoon, Suna,” Second year Aran greeted him and Suna nodded in response. It seemed as if the twins hadn’t arrived yet, which was good because there would be no suspecting Suna of any foul play. Suna continued to undress, pulling the black shirt over his torso. It was adorned with their school’s name above the left breast. 

Suna was just about to unzip his pants when the door slammed open once more, revealing a grinning Atsumu and a blank-faced Osamu. The latter always seemed to be more subdued than his brother. It was the only way Suna could tell them apart. When on the court however, that was another story. Suna was still getting used to their ruthless style of playing. 

“Yo,” Osamu and Atsumu spoke in unison and walked over to their lockers, which coincidentally were side by side. Suna appeared to be uninterested, pushing his pants down his legs and kicking them off, then folding them just as neatly as his shirt. He laid it in his locker just as he heard an irritated  _ what the hell?  _ from across the room.

Osamu hummed disinterestedly and Suna bit his lip to hide a tiny smile. Osamu was always on his side, even though he didn’t actually know who the perpetrator was. 

Atsumu let out a frustrated grunt. “My freakin’ gym shorts are gone!”

“Oh damn.” Osamu’s voice was laced with sarcasm.

“Have you checked under your shirt?” Suna asked, making his way over to the twins once his pants were pulled over his hips. He was always the one that offered to help Atsumu find his things, steering him further and further away from the space where he had actually hidden them. This time the pants were in the basket filled with the volleyballs. 

Atsumu gave him a blank stare before going back to sifting through his locker. Suna met Osamu’s eyes over his brother’s back and the corner of his mouth lifted, but only slightly. Suna couldn’t help but return the small smile before making his way back to his locker, shutting it. 

Their captain clapped and ordered them down to the gym immediately.

“I don’t have shorts to wear!” Atsumu whined. He held up the tiny replacement. “I can’t wear these.”

“I’m sure you can squeeze into them.” They began to file out and Suna covered his snort with a cough, pressing his hand to his lips. Suna was able to get a couple of commemorative photos before shoving his phone into his locker and following the crowd. Atsumu’s complaining traveled over the group like a cloud but Suna was able to ignore his complaints. 

His joy was soon forgotten as practice picked up and they were forced into diving drills. Suna was huffing by the second one, a trickle of sweat running down his temple. It was sweltering in the gym already and he truly felt as if he were going to die. Joining the volleyball team had been a spur of the moment decision and he was still unsure if he had made the right choice or not. His stamina wasn’t all that great and the bruises on his knees grew bigger and uglier by the day, blossoming like fungus. His body ached and he felt like hunching over was the only way to alleviate the agony. His mother didn’t like the way his posture was faltering.

It was a pain in the ass in its entirety. 

But. He did get to watch Atsumu dive right onto his crotch that afternoon, so volleyball definitely had its perks.

\---

Winning. Winning felt  _ incredible _ .

It was much different than winning a practice match. A practice match was just that -  _ practice _ . It didn’t mean anything. There was something bubbling up inside of him as he got the winning block in his first official match. Suna had been subbed in at the last moment and his teammates had been skeptical. But the ball slapped hard against his hand, resounding through the gym and leaving a burn that he wanted to revisit over and over again. 

He was high on victory, even more so when his teammates threw their arms around them and shouted in excitement. Suna was still in shock and didn’t register his body being rocked and the screaming. Atsumu had his arms around Suna’s neck, the source of the rattling. 

Suna was hyper-focused on the tingling in his hand, the skin a flaming red. It never felt this way during practice.

“Your smile seems kind of evil,” a monotone voice hummed in his ear. Suna hadn’t realized that the arms around him were gone and the team had moved to line up. Suna was still standing in the center of the court like an idiot, staring at his hand with a grin. A somewhat feral grin that apparently Osamu saw as evil.

Suna blinked at him but couldn’t erase the smile from his face. Osamu took a slight step back, “You okay?”

“That was… lit,” Suna decided with a nod and looked at Osamu with big eyes. 

Osamu chuckled and clapped him on the back. “Hm. Sure was.” Osamu’s hand was still on Suna’s back as he directed the middle blocker to the lineup, thanking those that chose to watch their set behind them. 

Suna had bonded with Osamu more than he thought he would in the past few months. It started when Osamu walked in on him filling Atsumu’s locker with volleyballs one afternoon. Suna had been a deer in headlights, one ball poised halfway in the locker with some bouncing out at his feet. Osamu hadn’t said a word for a long minute, but silently walked over to him to help. Suna almost hadn’t believed it but realized he had an ally in Osamu. Though Osamu probably would have taken Atsumu’s side in other circumstances, this was their moment of solidarity.

Suna hadn’t expected Osamu to continue to help, but Osamu followed up the next day, arriving early and the two of them lowly plotting ways to mess with Atsumu. And thus, a beautiful friendship was born. 

Atsumu still hadn’t caught on, and Suna was unsure how. Osamu and Suna were always snickering at each other when it came to Atsumu’s reactions. He was always so overdramatic. Suna figured Atsumu was so caught up in his arrogance that he didn’t recognize that his own brother was in on the joke.

Those moments with Osamu were the highlight of his day and the highlight of afternoon practice. Suna was slowly becoming one of the team, getting in on the jokes and feeling like he was truly a part of something. His unexpected friendship with Osamu was another key feature, but he was unsure how to approach that. For now, he just focused on Osamu’s hand on the small of his back and bowing to his peers in the stands.

\---

“‘Samu, come hit some balls!”

“...Nah.”

“Huh?!”

Practice lasted forever. Suna wasn’t as impressed with Atsumu’s superhuman tendencies as he usually was. Suna did not want to think about the words “hit” and “ball” in the same sentence for the remainder of the night. In fact, it would be better if he didn’t have to think about it for the rest of eternity. But the coach was working their asses and come tomorrow it would be back on the same grind despite Suna’s legs begging for him to sit down.

The third years had departed after their loss at nationals a few weeks ago. They had made it to the semi-finals but ultimately they hadn’t made the cut. They vowed that next year would be their year, when they would go all the way and win. There was a lot more practice to be done. Atsumu had taken it upon himself to state how much practice they would do, despite Kita being the newly declared captain. At the end of the day their coach had the say, and Suna was silently cursing all three of them.

The gym was scorching, the heat on to combat the chill outside. There wasn’t enough water in the world to quench his thirst. The heat was surely frying his brain so much that he could barely come up with anything to mess with Atsumu lately. Osamu was all out of ideas too. 

“I’m gonna go home with Suna.” At the sound of his name, Suna glanced over at the twins. Osamu was jerking a thumb in his direction and he quickly averted his gaze when Atsumu fixed a pointed glare at him. 

“Whatever!” Atsumu growled. Suna hated when the haughty twin got in a mood. Sometimes it was funny but when it was aimed at him, Suna wanted to run in the opposite direction. He wasn’t a fan of confrontation unless he could watch it from afar. One of his favorite past times at practice was when Atsumu and Osamu would argue. On countless occasions Suna would pull his phone out to film the altercations. He got some sick kind of pleasure seeing the two of them pound on each other with their fists. 

It’s not like he shared the videos with anybody. Or watched them. It was mostly for blackmail purposes. Though, Suna was not entirely sure what would entail the videos being used as blackmail. In his opinion, you always had to be prepared.

The two of them, Suna and Osamu, made their way to the locker room in silence. They changed at their own pace before taking off into the night. Night was Suna’s favorite time of the day; he liked looking up at the stars and the breeze that came with the night. It was much appreciated with the warmth of the smelly gym that they were forced to be in for hours on end. Suna wanted to spread his arms like a bird and have the cool air take him in its chilly hug. But, he didn’t want out freak out Osamu just yet.

The two of them walked in silence, hands shoved into their pockets and the sound of their feet against the pavement the only noise coming from them. Suna liked it. Neither of them were talkers, Atsumu usually with them to fill the quiet. Suna wondered if he got tired of the sound of his own voice. Or the feeling of a volleyball against his hand. Suna wondered a lot of things, but mostly how somebody could love practice so much that they would willingly stay after hours to cram some extra time in.

Practice was slowly becoming the bane of his existence, the only pick-me-up being Osamu. Suna didn’t want to admit this but it was the only truth he could find. He found solace in Osamu’s presence whether it be on the court or on the walk home. He was a true companion.

Suna didn’t have many friends outside of volleyball. His personality seemed off putting to others; all lazy snarkiness. But somehow his team had embraced him for all his quirks and faults so there was something to be said about that. Suna had never been a part of something like this before. He usually just faded into the background but on this team, he couldn’t do that. The team /needed/ him and his tall stature and his blocking skills. He was essential.

Suna had never felt essential to anybody in his entire life.

“Yo,” Osamu nudged him and Suna flinched a little as Osamu’s elbow tickled his ribs. “You good?”

Suna gave him the side eye, meeting warm and curious hazel eyes. How could Suna lie to eyes like those? “Mm, yup.” 

Osamu didn’t look convinced but tilted his head back. “It’s weird without the third years.”

“Mmm. Seems smaller now.”

“Yeah.”

Awkward silence followed after that. Neither were into small talk. Suna pondered whether or not he should have said more earlier, something other than “yup.” It was too late for that now and he would have to live with that mistake for the rest of his life.

“I have an idea for the next thing we can do to ‘Tsumu.”

“... I’m listening.”

\---

The few weeks they had between their first and second year passed like a breeze and before they knew it they were they were back at Inarizaki. Suna was sitting on the roof, eating his lunch in solitude, watching the petals of cherry blossoms flutter in the breeze. The campus was beautiful, Suna had to admit, as much as he hated trudging here every morning. 

Practice wasn’t any easier being a second year. There were still no first years and Suna wasn’t prepared to deal with any. He knew how annoying he and the twins had been as first years, he wasn’t prepared for the next level of arrogance. But Suna had the issue of misjudging people, so maybe they wouldn’t be so bad.

“Yo,” Osamu greeted as he came up the stairs. Suna tried not to perk up, and try he didn’t have to because he saw Atsumu bouncing up the steps behind him. 

“Wassup, Suna?” Atsumu asked, plopping down on one side of him while Osamu took the other side. Suna looked between them with a blank expression. Osamu gave him an apologetic look while his twin looked anything but.

“I didn’t say you could eat with me.” 

“You let ‘Samu eat with you all the time!”

“Mm, yeah, he’s more tolerable.”

Atsumu fake gasped and Osamu snickered, opening his lunch bag. Suna watched him meticulously take everything out and lay it before him, not caring if it was contaminated by the bugs flying around their heads. Then again, Suna did the same thing. He wondered how long Osamu had been doing that, immediately followed by the thought of them spending too much time together. Was there such a thing?

“Anybody else feel dead inside, even though we’ve only been back for two weeks?” Atsumu asked after stabbing his juicebox with the straw.

Suna would drink to that if he had any form of drink around him. “Mood.”

He already knew that he would have to put in more work than he had before, but was glad that he didn’t have to focus on college until his third year. He could focus on school or volleyball or whatever he wanted for another year. He wasn’t even sure if he was going to go to college. Did he want to subject himself to that kind of torture? He would rather get some low paying office job than sit in a classroom for another however many years. It just wasn’t his forte.

Though, volleyball hadn’t been his forte initially, but here he was, sitting with two of the biggest dorks in volleyball. He honestly didn’t understand where they drew their passion from. Suna was certain he would never understand.

“What the hell?” Atsumu spit his drink out immediately after he took a sip. His face twisted into a grimace as he looked at the box. “Did you switch this out?”

Suna looked to the other side of him. Osamu was holding back a smile, lips twitching at the corner and cheeks growing redder by the second. Suna couldn’t help the snicker that came from between his own two lips. It was ripped from him seconds later when Atsumu lunged over him to grab at Osamu, intelligible shouting rising between the two of them. Suna had never pulled his phone out so fast.

It made Suna wonder how Atsumu would react to every single article of clothing in his locker being swapped out for ones a bubblegum pink color, if he was reacting this violently to the wrong kind of juice in his lunchbox.

\---

The first years weren’t bad. They fit into the team quite nicely and Suna was only skeptical for two days. They mostly left him alone, trying to get the attention of the twins, Aran, and Kita. Suna was an afterthought. He didn’t mind.

He was also a regular member on the team now, when previously he hadn’t been. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about his newfound role. He was  _ truly _ a part of the team now. On the court, a lot would be riding on him. Whereas before he had to watch them lose on the sidelines, if they lost this time around that would come down partly on him. Aran had clapped him on the back and gave him a grin when announced, Kita behind him with his usual calm demeanor. It was odd how Kita hadn’t made himself a regular but Suna didn’t question it. Kita always had something brewing in those calm eyes of him. 

Suna gazed at the team before him, his team. He felt confidence in them, something he hadn’t felt before. This was a team that could go to nationals. With or without him, they could go. Practice would be crazy but there was something burning in the pit of Suna’s stomach, something he hadn’t felt before.

Butterflies tickled his stomach when Osamu turned to him and gave a little grin. He very much considered Osamu to be his best friend on the team, even if Osamu didn’t quite see him in the same light. They were once again working together to fuck with Atsumu, from turning all his clothes pink to filling his locker with onigiri. Aran had forced Atsumu to eat all of it to get rid of it. They weren’t going to let all that food go to waste. The best part was that still they weren’t suspected. Suna wondered how long they could keep this going.

He hoped for next year at least. He needed something besides Osamu to look forward to every afternoon.

\---

Losing. Losing felt  _ terrible _ .

Watching the team on the other side of the net, those pesky fucking crows, cheer and jump into each other’s arms with tears rolling down their faces, that was supposed to be their moment. Suna was the one who was supposed to be gathering with his team and celebrating a glorious win. But they had been defeated by the underdogs. The second most likely team to win was defeated in their first game.

What a disappointment.

He glared across the net at their setter, their snarky middle blocker. He could have sworn he saw the blonde spare a glance towards them, but he was probably too good for that. 

“Come on.” Osamu’s voice was somber in his ear, his hand on the small of Suna’s back like after their first win together in their first year. Suna was numb as Osamu steered them to line up. The third years were holding back tears. This was their last game of high school, with this team. How was that fair? They had gone to  _ Nationals _ and now it was  _ over. _

Suna balled his fists at his sides so tight that his nails cut into his palms. When he stood up straight from his bow he shared a look with both Osamu and Atsumu. Next year, this wouldn’t happen. Next year, they would redeem themselves and go to the end. 

There was no more messing around. No more pranks before practice. No more petty arguments. Suna finally had something to fight for. He never wanted to feel this way again, not as he stood on the court with his companions. Suna was suddenly thankful for his first year self, for making that spur of the moment decision to sign up for the volleyball club. Never in his life had he felt so motivated. Never in his life had he been so grateful to be a part of something. Usually he would run away but there was no more time for that.

Practice was about to become the highlight of Suna’s day. Not only because he would be there with people he had grown to care about, but because he  _ liked _ volleyball. He wanted to win, no matter how much pain he would put himself through to do so. 

**Author's Note:**

> [My twitter](https://twitter.com/novocaine_sea)


End file.
